Bechamel sauce is currently the most popular sauce in Europe. He is known to almost any hostess, and is indispensable where they love to eat tasty. There are on the order of several dozens of ways of preparing it, but the classic versions are not inferior to them at all.
Lasagna Bechamel Sauce
The considered dish is used as one of the main ingredients in the process of cooking lasagna, being a link between its layers.
Ingredients required for the sauce:
| Product name | Required amount | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 400 ml | Fat any |
| Wheat flour | 50 gr | Top grade |
| Butter | 100 gr | Fat any |
| Salt | 4 gr | |
| Sugar | 25 gr |
It will take about 15 minutes to prepare this dish.
Calorie sauce can vary. Provided the use of milk with a fat content of 2.5%, and butter - 72%, its value per 100 grams of the finished dish is 197 kcal.
Consider the classic recipe step by step. So, it is necessary:
- heat the butter well over low heat;
- add flour and stir continuously for 1 minute;
- temporarily remove the container from the heat and slowly inject milk to avoid the formation of lumps;
- add salt and sugar;
- bring to the required consistency over low heat.
Excess ingredients and spices can often only spoil the dish. The sauce prepared according to this recipe will only emphasize the taste of the other ingredients of the lasagna, and not muffle them.
For lovers of spices, the recipe can be supplemented with only a small amount of garlic.
Classic bechamel sauce for julienne
Another dish of French cuisine that cannot be imagined without the sauce in question is julienne. In the classic version, bechamel prepared for it includes the following ingredients:
| Product name | Required amount | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|
| Wheat flour | 2 tablespoons | Top grade |
| Butter | 3 tablespoons | Fat any |
| Cream | 1,5 glasses | Fat any |
| Nutmeg | 1/2 teaspoon | Ground |
| Salt | 4 gr | |
| Pepper | pinch | Black ground |
Cooking takes about a quarter of an hour.
Caloric value of the product per 100 grams is about 330 kcal, provided that products of such fat content are used: butter - 72%, cream - 20%.
Cooking process:
- oil is laid out in a saucepan or pan and brought to the fire to a liquid state;
- flour is added, and the resulting mass is brought to homogeneity using a regular spoon or a special scoop;
- the fire is reduced to a minimum, the products languish until the acquisition of a golden hue;
- with constant stirring, preheated cream is slowly added;
- in the resulting mixture, add salt, ground nutmeg, pepper (optional);
- the dish is stewed at minimum heat to a moderately thick consistency.
Cream sauce, cooked according to this recipe, can be used not only for julienne. It is perfect for baking fish and all kinds of seafood, emphasizing the taste of ready-made chicken and vegetable dishes.
This recipe can be supplemented with garlic, which will make the taste more expressive and spicy.
Homemade bechamel sauce with sour cream
Another variant of the dish is sour cream based sauce. It is very useful in the process of cooking of champignons or meat, and also due to its low calorie content it will be able to please those who seek to reduce their body weight.
Ingredients Required:
| Product name | Required amount | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|
| Sour cream | 300 gr | Fat any |
| Flour | 4 tablespoons | Top grade |
| Bouillon | 700 ml | On chicken breast |
| Butter | 2 tablespoons | Fat any |
| Salt | 8 gr | |
| Pepper | taste | Black ground |
To cook chicken broth, it takes 60 minutes. The direct preparation of the sauce will take 20 minutes.
The calorie content of the dish in question is 120 kcal per 100 grams, provided that sour cream of 20% is used, and butter is 72% fat.
Cooking sequence;
- butter is laid out in a frying pan or a saucepan and softens on the fire;
- with thorough mixing, flour is added;
- mix stew for 1 minute;
- broth and sour cream are slowly introduced;
- salt and pepper are added;
- on minimal fire, it is brought to the thickness of kefir (it will take about 6-8 minutes).
In order to make the dish even less high-calorie chicken broth can be replaced with boiled water, but the taste from this will slightly change.
Vegetarian Bechamel Sauce Recipe
It is difficult to imagine the dish in question without using at least one of such products as butter, sour cream, chicken broth, milk or cream. However, those who, for whatever reasons, do not use dishes containing ingredients of animal origin, can pamper themselves with bechamel sauce, prepared according to a special recipe.
For this you will need:
| Product name | Required amount | Recommendations / Note |
|---|---|---|
| Boiled water | 700 ml | |
| Wheat flour | 120 gr | Top grade |
| Cashew Nuts | 400 gr | |
| Olive oil | 4 tablespoons | |
| Nutmeg | 1/2 teaspoon | Ground |
| Salt | 8 gr | |
| Pepper | taste | Black ground |
The recipe for a vegetarian bechamel takes a little longer - about 1/2 hour.
The calorie content of the dish is quite high and amounts to 597 kcal per 100 gr.
To prepare should:
- steamed raw cashews for 5-6 minutes with boiled water;
- then using a blender, beat them with water for uniformity;
- olive oil is poured into the pan or stewpot, put on the fire and add flour;
- bring the mixture to a light golden hue;
- constantly stirring slowly introduce the resulting "nut milk";
- add nutmeg, salt, pepper;
- simmer on minimal heat to consistency of liquid sour cream.
The resulting sauce is different from the usual options, but in no way inferior to them. Its value lies not only in the absence of ingredients of animal origin, but also in the original taste.
The application of the famous sauce
Bechamel perfectly complement and emphasize the taste of almost any dish. It is used as a fill when baking meat, fish and vegetable dishes in the oven. This sauce is actively used by cooks in the preparation of sandwiches, various savory pies.
It can be an exquisite addition to mashed soups and dressing for various vegetable salads. In the latter case, vegetables can be both fresh and thermally treated, for example, on a grill.
As a sauce in its direct assignment, bechamel can be served to boiled or baked potatoes, to seafood and fish (mostly seaweed), to cauliflower. It combines both chicken and pork with veal. Bechamel serves vegetables and eggs.
By adding mushrooms or seafood to the sauce, you can pour the usual spaghetti. So the last of everyday dishes will turn into Italian pasta.
Whatever dishes are planned for the dinner table, bowls with the sauce in question will not be superfluous.
However, it is necessary to remember one important feature. Serve this dish only hot.
This is due to the fact that when cooled on a béchamel, a “cap” (in other words, a film) is formed. As a result, the original tenderness is lost.
Useful tips
Bechamel sauce is a dish that is almost impossible to spoil. Every housewife "redraws" his classic recipe as she likes. However, regardless of the chosen method of cooking, there are some useful tips that will help beginners.
As a result of insufficient stirring in the process of combining ingredients or the rapid introduction of the liquid used (milk, water, broth, sour cream or cream), the consistency may become uneven. This does not mean that the dish is spoiled. It is possible to get rid of the formed lumps by using a sieve and carefully grinding the resulting mass through it.
The first stage in the preparation of the sauce, namely, roasting flour in butter, depending on taste preferences can be changed. First you need to fry the flour until golden brown, and then add the heated butter to it. This will make the taste more pronounced, and the color - more warm.
If it is possible that the sauce during the meal may not have time to eat hot, you can add a little vegetable oil. The resulting thin film on the surface of the dish in question will keep it from forming a film.
If you overdo the sauce on fire, then its consistency may be too thick. This problem is also easily solved.
The taste of bechamel depends not only on the skills of the chef and the chosen recipe. It is primarily influenced by the quality of the selected products. For example, an expired sour cream, which some thrifty housewives so reluctantly throw away, can spoil the whole dish.
Having become acquainted with the theory of bechamel sauce, you can begin the process of cooking. To do this, you need to stock up on the necessary ingredients and allocate some free time. And the introduction to the sauce of new components, various exotic spices and its combination with various dishes will not only delight, but also surprise the household.
Another version of the bechamel sauce is in the next video.
